I have a 15 amp circuit breaker in my house. It controls 1 of the basement circuits for a room that has:
- 1 small dim CFL wall sconce
- 6 ceiling cans with CFL bulbs
- 6 wall outlets that only have a single nightlight plugged into them
- a double outlet (4 outlets total) that have a dvd player, a 50" LED flat TV, a small stereo
Some things I've tested:
- My whole-house heater/AC is not on this circuit
- My whole-house water filter (which does draw some power) is not on this circuit
- There is no sump-pump and I can't think of any other appliances that might be on this circuit.
The basement was renovated 6 years ago and when that happened the whole house electrical panel was upgraded to a modern unit.
The breaker has been tripping periodically ever since the basement renovation. Sometimes it will go for a month or 2 without tripping. Sometimes it trips and trips again within a minute of resetting.
The time of day it trips is not consistent. The load on the circuit when it trips is not consistent.
What steps should I follow to try to pinpoint the problem? What are the likely causes of the problem?